The Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia The room in Independence Hall (formerly the State House) in Philadelphia where debates over the proposed Constitution took place (photo by Doug Linder) On May 25, 1787, a week later than scheduled, delegates from the various states met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. Among the first orders of business was electing George Washington president of the Convention and establishing the rules--including complete secrecy concerning its deliberations--that would guide the proceedings. (Several delegates, most notably James Madison, took extensive notes, but these were not published until decades later.) The main business of the Convention began four days later when Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia presented and defended a plan for new structure of government (called the "Virginia Plan") that had been chiefly drafted by fellow Virginia delegate, James Madison. The Virginia Plan called for a strong national government with both branches of the legislative branch apportioned by population. The plan gave the national government the power to legislate "in all cases in which the separate States are incompetent" and even gave a proposed national Council of Revision a veto power over state legislatures.

Delegates from smaller states, and states less sympathetic to broad federal powers, opposed many of the provisions in the Virginia Plan. Charles Pinckney of South Carolina asked whether proponents of the plan "meant to abolish the State Governments altogether." On June 14, a competing plan, called the "New Jersey Plan," was presented by delegate William Paterson of New Jersey. The New Jersey Plan kept federal powers rather limited and created no new Congress. Instead, the plan enlarged some of the powers then held by the Continental Congress. Paterson made plain the adamant opposition of delegates from many of the smaller states to any new plan that would deprive them of equal voting power ("equal suffrage") in the legislative branch. Over the course of the next three months, delegates worked out a series of compromises between the competing plans. New powers were granted to Congress to regulate the economy, currency, and the national defense, but provisions which would give the national government a veto power over new state laws was rejected.

At the insistence of delegates from southern states, Congress was denied the power to limit the slave trade for a minimum of twenty years and slaves--although denied the vote and not recognized as citizens by those states--were allowed to be counted as 3/5 persons for the purpose of apportioning representatives and determining electoral votes. Most importantly, perhaps, delegates compromised on the thorny issue of apportioning members of Congress, an issue that had bitterly divided the larger and smaller states. Under a plan put forward by delegate Roger Sherman of Connecticut ("the Connecticut Compromise"), representation in the House of Representatives would be based on population while each state would be guaranteed an equal two senators in the new Senate. By September, the final compromises were made, the final clauses polished, and it came time to vote. In the Convention, each state--regardless of its number of delegates-- had one vote, so a state evenly split could not register a vote for adoption. In the end, thirty-nine of the fifty-five delegates supported adoption of the new Constitution, barely enough to win support from each of the twelve attending state delegations.

(Rhode Island, which had opposed the Convention, sent no delegation.) Following a signing ceremony on September 17, most of the delegates repaired to the City Tavern on Second Street near Walnut where, according to George Washington, they "dined together and took cordial leave of each other." DEBATES OF THE CONVENTION (FROM NOTES) Madison's Notes (Avalon Project at the Yale Law School) Constitutional Convention delegates begin to assemble - May 14, 1787 - HISTORY.com Constitutional Convention delegates begin to assemble Share this: Constitutional Convention delegates begin to assemble Author Constitutional Convention delegates begin to assemble URL Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention begin to assemble in Philadelphia to confront a daunting task: the peaceful overthrow of the new American government as defined by the Article of Confederation. Although the convention was originally supposed to begin on May 14, James Madison reported that a small number only had assembled. Meetings had to be pushed back until May 25, when a sufficient quorum of the participating states—Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia—had arrived.

As the new United States descended into economic crisis and inter-state quarrels, the new nation’s leaders had become increasingly frustrated with their limited power. When in 1785, Maryland and Virginia could not agree on their rights to the Potomac River, George Washington called a conference to settle the matter at Mt. Vernon. James Madison then convinced the Virginia legislature to call a convention of all the states to discuss such sticky trade-related issues at Annapolis, Maryland. The Annapolis Convention of September 1786 in turn called the Philadelphia Convention, to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union. Between Madison’s initial call for the states to send delegates to Annapolis and the presentation of Madison’s Virginia plan for a new government to the convention in Philadelphia, a fundamental shift in the aims of the convention process had taken place. No longer were the delegates gathered with the aim of tweaking trade agreements. A significant number of the men present were now determined to overhaul the new American government as a whole, without a single ballot being cast by the voting public.

Related Videos Milestones: 1784–1800 - Office of the Historian Milestones: 1784–1800 Constitutional Convention and Ratification, 1787–1789 The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia met between May and September of 1787 to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation. The United States Constitution that emerged from the convention established a federal government with more specific powers, including those related to conducting relations with foreign governments. Under the reformed federal system, many of the responsibilities for foreign affairs fell under the authority of an executive branch, although important powers, such as treaty ratification, remained the responsibility of the legislative branch. After the necessary number of state ratifications, the Constitution came into effect in 1789 and has served as the basis of the United States Government ever since. The U.S. Constitution Under the Articles of Confederation, the federal government faced many challenges in conducting foreign policy, largely due to its inability to pass or enforce laws that individual states found counter to their interests.

The 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the American War of Independence, stipulated that debts owed by Americans to British subjects were to be honored, and also stipulated that former British loyalists could bring forth suits in U.S. courts to recover confiscated property. These provisions were unpopular and many states blocked their enforcement. This led to British refusal to vacate military forts in U.S. territory. Additionally, after the war, British traders flooded U.S. markets with British goods, to the detriment of American importers and manufacturers. The Confederation Congress lacked the authority to regulate this trade, and intrastate trade was further hampered by states’ own attempts to impose import duties on goods from elsewhere in the United States. Lastly, the Spanish Government, which controlled New Orleans, barred American ships from navigating the Mississippi River. Southern delegates to the Confederation Congress wanted to lift this ban, while coastal merchants, especially in the northeast, were willing to make concessions in exchange for a treaty with otherwise favorable commercial terms. The large majorities necessary for ratification of such measures under the Articles of Confederation often resulted in the deadlock along sectional lines between North and South.

The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia In attempting to resolve such issues, as well as problems arising from the payment of debts from the Revolutionary War and other domestic issues, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention created a model of government that relied upon a series of checks and balances by dividing federal authority between the Legislative, the Judicial, and the Executive branches of government. The framers of the Constitution had originally imagined a weak presidency and a strong legislature divided into a House of Representatives and the Senate. Under the Articles of Confederation, considerable minor paperwork had bogged down important business enough that legislators decided to establish an executive branch to deal with routine paperwork. When writing the Constitution, the framers expected the Senate to handle important issues, particularly the ratification of treaties, while the Executive would attend to matters of lesser consequence. However, as deliberations continued, the Executive branch acquired more power to deal with some of the issues that had been a source of sectional tension under the Articles of Confederation—and so the President acquired the authority to conduct foreign relations. The two-thirds clause for ratification of treaties in the Senate, as opposed to a simple majority, allowed the South a greater voice in these matters and assuaged concerns about the attempts to abandon navigation of the Mississippi.

The Constitution does not stipulate existence of departments within the executive branch, but the need for such departments was recognized immediately. Congress passed legislation creating the Department of Foreign Affairs in its first session in 1789, and in the same year changed the name to the Department of State after it added several additional domestic duties to the Department. After the ratification of the Constitution in 1789, the machinery of state had been designed, but not yet tested and put to use. The provisions for management of foreign affairs would be put to the test in 1794, when the Senate had the opportunity to accept or reject the controversial treaty with Great Britain negotiated by John Jay . Constitutional Convention of 1787 | Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia Library of Congress This engraving of Independence Hall dates to 1778. Built between 1732 and 1752, Independence Hall (then known as the Pennsylvania State House) hosted not only the Constitutional Convention of 1787, but also the debate and approval of the Declaration of Independence. The original steeple, shown to the right, was demolished before the Constitutional Convention began. It was later restored.

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention met in this building six days a week, five hours per day, to discuss the rules of the convention. It was in this hall that the Constitution was drafted, debated, and ultimately signed. Independence Hall is part of Independence National Historical Park, along with many other landmarks from the Revolutionary era, and is open to the public. Architect of the Capitol Howard Chandler Christy’s painting of the signing of the U.S. Constitution was commissioned in 1939 as part of the congressional observance of the Constitution’s sesquicentennial. Completed in 1940, the 20-by-30-foot framed oil-on-canvas scene is among the best-known images in the U.S. Capitol, on display in the east grand stairway of the House wing. The painting depicts Independence Hall in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. George Washington is the most prominent figure; he stands on the platform next to Richard Spaight of North Carolina, who is signing the document. Eighty-one-year-old Benjamin Franklin is seated in the center, with Alexander Hamilton leaning toward him, while James Madison appears farther to the right.

(Caption credit: Architect of the Capitol) National Park Service Philadelphia was chosen as the Constitutional Convention site because of its central location, and deliberations took place in the Assembly Room of Independence Hall, then known as the Pennsylvania State House. Twelve of the thirteen states sent delegates to meet here, fifty-five in all, to debate and write the Constitution of the United States. Rhode Island was the only state not represented. Compromises were made between southern and northern delegates over the role that slavery would play in the new nation, a topic that was already beginning to divide the young nation, primarily due to Quaker influence in the Philadelphia area. Three years after the Constitutional Convention ended, Philadelphia served for a decade as the U.S. capital. This photograph shows the Assembly Room, renovated in the mid-twentieth century so that it accurately reflects its appearance in the eighteenth century. Today the room is part of the Independence Hall tours that are available at no charge for visitors to Independence National Historical Park. Library of Congress The Constitution was heralded throughout the new republic by way of newspapers and magazines.

This engraving by James Trenchard was printed in The Columbian magazine, depicting the Roman gods Cupid; Concordia, who represents societal agreement; and Clio, the muse of history. The temple they stand before has thirteen columns to represent the states. In their hands is the Constitution. An inscription on the temple reads, “Sacred to Liberty, Justice, and Peace.” The Columbian was published in Philadelphia beginning in 1786. The first sixteen months were devoted to news and opinions on the Constitutional Convention and included reproductions of speeches by the delegates and the full text of the document. National Park Service This is the Rising Sun Chair from which George Washington presided during the Constitutional Convention. On September 17, 1787, the completed Constitution was signed by thirty-nine of the remaining forty-two delegates to the convention in their last meeting. Benjamin Franklin, the oldest delegate present, remarked that all summer he had wondered if the decorative gilded sun carved on Washington's chair was rising or setting. Once the manuscript was signed, he determined that the sun was rising—a symbol of the young nation ascending at the dawn of its new government.

More accurately referred to as the Speaker's Chair, it was built in 1779 to replace an older item destroyed during the British occupation of Philadelphia from 1777 to 1778. The chair remains on display in the Assembly Room of Independence Hall. Library of Congress This 1789 engraving shows the Bush Hill estate of William Hamilton Esq. It was located in the Fairmount neighborhood, bordering the Schuylkill River to the west. On July 4, 1788, a Grand Federal Procession celebrating the one-year anniversary of the ratification of the Constitution ended here. The procession began at Third and South Streets at 9:30 a.m. and marched for about three miles. Among about 17,000 participants were military units, ambassadors from ally nations, and representatives of some forty-four professions. At the end of the procession, the celebrants gathered on the lawn of Bush Hill for food and drinks. The Grand Federal Procession began a tradition of celebrating the ratification of the Constitution. While the 1788 event was held on July 4, later years saw Constitution Day celebrated on September 17, the day the document was endorsed.

Introduction to the Constitutional Convention | Teaching American History Introduction to the Constitutional Convention Introduction to the Constitutional Convention The Call for a Grand Convention On May 15, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Independence Hall , Philadelphia, issued “A Resolve” to the thirteen colonies: “Adopt such a government as shall, in the opinion of the representatives of the people, best conduce to the safety and happiness of their constituents in particular and America in general.” Between 1776 and 1780 each of the thirteen colonies adopted a republican form of government. What emerged was the most extensive documentation of the powers of government and the rights of the people that the world had ever witnessed. These state constitutions displayed a remarkable uniformity. Seven attached a prefatory Declaration of Rights, and all contained the same civil and criminal rights. Four states decided not to “prefix” a Bill of Rights to their constitutions, but, instead, incorporated the very same natural and traditional rights found in the prefatory declarations. New York incorporated the entire Declaration of Independence into its constitution. The primary purpose of these declarations and bills was to outline the objectives of government: to secure the right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.

The government that was chosen to secure these rights was declared universally to be “a republican form of government.” All of the states, except Pennsylvania, embraced a two-chamber legislature, and all, except Massachusetts, installed a weak executive and denied the Governor the power to veto bills of the legislature. All accepted the notion that the legislative branch should be preeminent, but, at the very same time, endorsed the concept that the liberty of the people was in danger from the corruption of the representatives. And this despite the fact that the representatives were installed by the election of the people. Thus, each state constitution embraced the notion of short terms of office for elected representatives along with recall, rotation, and term limits. The Second Continental Congress also created the first continental-wide system of governance. The Articles of Confederation created a nation of pre-existing states rather than a government over individuals. Thus, the very idea of a Bill of Rights was irrelevant because the Articles did not entail a government over individuals.

The states were equally represented in the union regardless of size of population, only one branch was needed, normal political activity required the support of super majorities, the union was limited to the powers expressly enumerated, and amendment was required to endow the union with powers that weren’t specifically articulated. Amendments required the unanimous approval of all thirteen state legislatures. The Articles didn’t come into operation until the early 1780s because of territorial disputes between two states; all of the states were required to “sign on” before the Articles became operative on any one state. These two directives produced two opposite and rival situations: an early operating, robust and healthy state and local politics and a late arriving, weak and divisive continental arrangement. Several statesmen, especially George Washington , were concerned that the idea of an American mind that had emerged during the war with Britain was about to disappear and the Articles of Confederation were inadequate to foster the development of an American character. According to Washington , “we have errors to correct.” He argued that the states refused to comply with the articles of peace, the union was unable to regulate interstate commerce, and the states met, but oh so grudgingly, just the minimum interstate standards required by the Articles .

Others, especially James Madison , were concerned that the state legislatures—dominated by what he saw as oppressive, unjust, and overbearing majorities—were passing laws detrimental to the rights of individual conscience and the right to private property. And there was nothing that the union government could do about it because the Articles left matters of religion and commerce to the states. The solution, concluded Madison , was to create an extended republic, in which a variety of opinions, passions, and interests would check and balance each other, supported by a governmental framework that endorsed a separation of powers between the branches of the general government. Between 1781 and 1785 attempts “to correct these errors” failed to secure the required unanimous consent of the state legislatures. Matters changed, however, in 1786. Following James Madison’s suggestion of 21 January 1786, the Virginia Legislature invited all the States to discuss ways to reduce interstate conflicts in Annapolis, Maryland. The “commissioners” in attendance at Annapolis during September 1786, chatted about these particular concerns, but suggested that the conversation be both deepened and widened.

They endorsed a motion that a “Grand Convention” of all the States meet in Philadelphia the next May 1787 to discuss how to improve the Articles of Confederation . One might well ask, “Who or what authorized the Virginia Legislature to call the Annapolis Convention and who or what authorized the Annapolis Convention to call for a ‘Grand Convention’?” The answer is to be found in the Declaration of Independence : The people have the right to choose the form of government under which they shall live and to install such government as they deem appropriate to secure their liberty, security, and happiness. The Selection of the Delegates Madison and Washington agreed that the principles of the Revolution of 1776 were in danger due to a weak continental arrangement and overbearing, unjust, and reckless state legislatures. But how could they take advantage of the opportunity provided by the Annapolis recommendation ? How was such a bold proposal to be put into effect? Madison persuaded the Virginia Legislature to implement the challenge of the Annapolis Convention and invite all the other states to also reconsider the status of the Articles .

He also persuaded the Assembly to be the first to elect delegates to the Grand Convention to consider the business “of May next.” The Virginia Assembly elected 55-year-old revolutionary hero George Washington to head the delegation. “Give me Liberty or give me Death” Patrick Henry declined because “he smelt a rat.” Doctor James McClurg was selected even though he had no political experience; James Madison insisted he be present. Richard Henry Lee and Thomas Nelson, colonial heroes and Signers of the Declaration, refused to attend. 34-year-old Edmund Randolph , the Governor of Virginia, 55-year-old John Blair , an esteemed Virginia judge, 55-year-old George Wythe , the first law professor of the United States and Signer of the Declaration , 62-year-old George Mason , author of the Virginia Bill of Rights were all chosen along with five foot tall, 120 pound, 36-year-old James Madison . Five States followed Virginia’s lead.

New Jersey selected William Churchill Houston , Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court David Brearly , 40-year-old Irish immigrant William Paterson , Governor William Livingston , known as “the Whipping Post” because of his great height, and 27-year-old Jonathan Dayton who after the Convention went exploring and died in what is now Dayton, Ohio. Pennsylvania selected eight delegates: Thomas Mifflin was elected as the leader of the delegation; he was speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly. Other members selected were Robert Morris , financier of the Revolution, George Clymer , signer of the Declaration , Jared Ingersoll a political reformer who later bestowed on Madison the appellation, “Father of the Constitution,” Irish immigrant Thomas Fitzsimons , founder of the Bank of America and one of two Catholics at the Convention, 45-year-old James “The Caledonian” Wilson from Scotland, 33-year-old peg leg and “rake” Gouverneur Morris , who spoke more than anyone at the Convention, and 81-year-old Benjamin “the American Socrates” Franklin who was added to the delegation as a courtesy. All the delegates from Pennsylvania resided in Philadelphia.

Former Governor Alexander Martin was chosen to lead the North Carolina delegation, but left before the signing . 29-year-old William Davie also left the Convention early. In 1802 he was killed in a duel. 29-year-old Richard Dobbs Spaight , preacher, essayist, and mathematician Doctor Hugh Williamson , and land speculator William Blount —who later earned the dubious honor of being the first member expelled from the United States Senate—made up the core of the delegation that had a major impact on the course of the debates in July. Howard Christy gives this central signing honors in his commemoration of the Constitution . 54-year-old George Read headed the Delaware delegation. Additional members included “corpulent and impetuous” Gunning Bedford Junior , prudent and educated John Dickinson , and two quiet thirty-five-year olds: Jacob Broom and Richard Bassett . The head of the Georgia delegation was William Few who was joined by Abraham Baldwin , William Houstoun , and 49-year-old William Pierce , one of the poorest attendees in terms of income—thus he has no official portrait—who nevertheless left us rich sketches of the delegates.

So six of the states had taken Virginia’s initiative to form a Grand Convention without waiting for any formal endorsement by the existing government under the Articles of Confederation . Other states, however, were more cautious and wanted the existing Congress to address the legitimacy of such a gathering. On 28 February 1787, the Confederation Congress endorsed the meeting of the Grand Convention on “the second Monday in May next.” Exactly what the Congress authorized became a bone of contention. The recommendatory act of Congress reads thus: A Convention of delegates should meet “for the sole purpose of revising the articles of Confederation and reporting to Congress and the several legislatures such alterations and provisions therein as shall, when agreed to in Congress and confirmed by the States, render the federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union.” (Italics in the original of the version reprinted in Federalist 40.) Did the Congress limit the Convention to the discussion of specific and particular matters or did the Congress empower the Convention to “run away” and propose whatever alterations the delegates considered were needed to preserve the principles of the Revolution? New York was the first state to act after the Congressional endorsement.

The Governor George Clinton faction of the New York legislature selected State Supreme Court judge Robert Yates and John Lansing to, in effect, outvote Alexander Hamilton . The New York delegation was not particularly prominent at the Convention. Yates and Lansing left in early July, just prior to the passage of the Connecticut Compromise, and the 32-year-old Hamilton , who lost his life at age 49 in a duel with Aaron Burr, was far more influential in securing the adoption of the Constitution in 1788 than in its framing in 1787. Five States followed New York’s lead. In early March, South Carolina, selected John Rutledge , Charles Cotesworth Pinckney , Charles Pinckney , and Pierce Butler as their delegates; they were pro-national, pro-slavery, and very influential. Massachusetts, also in March, selected Elbridge Gerry , who signed the Declaration, 32-year-old Rufus King , “backwoods lawyer” Caleb Strong , and Nathaniel Gorham , who chaired the Committee of the Whole during the Convention.

Four days before the Convention began, Connecticut elected three delegates: William Samuel Johnson , who learned of his appointment to the Presidency of Columbia College on his way to Philadelphia, Roger Sherman , who signed both the Declaration and the Articles , and 42-year-old Oliver Ellsworth who had the reputation of talking to himself and being a chain chewer of snuff. Irish immigrant Doctor James McHenry , after whom Fort McHenry is named, was a leader of the Maryland delegation. He was joined by 60-year-old bachelor, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer , 30-year-old Daniel Carroll —one of two Catholics at the Convention—29-year-old John F. Mercer , who blew into and out of town during the first week of August, and Luther Martin , who apparently had a great capacity to consume immense amounts of alcohol, and sober up at a moment’s notice. New Hampshire was short of cash so John Langdon funded the expenses for himself and Nicholas Gilman ; they arrived at the Convention on July 23, after the main debate over the Connecticut Compromise was completed and yet just in time for a one-week recess. Rhode Island, the thirteenth state, declined to send delegates.

Thomas Jefferson characterized the 55 men who showed up in Philadelphia as “demi-gods,” who created a Constitution that would last into remote futurity. Alexis de Tocqueville marveled at the work of the American Founders: never before in the history of the world had the leaders of a country declared the existing government to be bankrupt, and the people, after debate, calmly elected delegates who proposed a solution, which, in turn, was debated up and down the country for nearly a year, and not a drop of blood was spilled. Madison , in Federalist 37, indicates the uniqueness of the Founding: never before had there been a democratic founding; all previous foundings had been the work of a single founder like Romulus. And Hamilton , in Federalist 1, suggested that this was a unique event in the history of the world; finally government was going to be established by reflection and choice rather than force and fraud. And what is also unique is the fact that the framers were relatively young , well educated , and politically experienced .

Like the Declaration of Independence , the Constitution was written by delegates immersed in 1) the writings of Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, and Montesquieu, and 2) a world of political experience at both the state and continental level. Both basic documents were written in Independence Hall , Philadelphia, and thirty signers of the Declaration in 1776 played a vital part in the creation and adoption of the Constitution , 1787-1789. How to Read the Convention Very few of the delegates selected were present at the appointed time for the meeting of the Grand Convention in Philadelphia on May 14, 1787. All the Virginia delegates were present, however, and fully settled into their accommodations. Washington stayed at Robert Morris’s Town House , and Madison secured lodgings across the street at Mrs. House’s Boarding House . During this waiting period, the Virginia delegates caucused with each other in an attempt to set the tone for the deliberations of the Convention and paid courtesy calls on prominent members of Philadelphia society. Some entered a Catholic church for the first time. On May 25 , a quorum of seven states was secured.

The first order of business was to elect a President, and George Washington was the obvious choice. William Jackson , yet another immigrant at the Convention, was elected Secretary of the Convention and he recorded the propositions and amendments as well as the vote tabulation. James Madison took extensive Notes of the proceedings and although some scholars have questioned their authenticity and completeness, they remain the primary source for reproducing the conversations at the Convention. Other delegates kept specific notes on certain days, there are letters back home to friends and loved ones, there are urgent bills sent for immediate payment that augment, and there are personal diaries, some more complete than others. Nothing, however, can compete with, or ever replace, Madison’s Notes . The delegates also agreed that the deliberations would be kept secret. The case in favor of secrecy was that the issues at hand were so important that honest discourse needed to be encouraged and delegates ought to feel free to speak their mind, and change their mind, as they saw fit. Thus, despite the hot summer weather in Philadelphia, and delegates who, on the whole, were rather overweight and hardly “dressed down” for the occasion, the windows were closed and heavy drapes drawn.

The merits and demerits of the secrecy rule have been a subject of considerable debate throughout American history. In Act One of the Convention , Governor Randolph introduces the fifteen point Virginia Plan at the end of May to “revise the Articles of Confederation .” The decisive features of this plan are 1) the complete structural exclusion of the states in terms of both election and representation; 2) the complete diminution of the powers of the states and the virtual freedom of Congress to act in those areas for which the states are incompetent; 3) the establishment of an extended national republic with institutional separation of powers and the introduction of the possibility that short terms of office and term limits—standard features of traditional republicanism—will be abandoned. Under the wholly federal Articles of Confederation , only the states are represented and the central government was restrained to the exercise of expressly delegated powers. And under the state republican constitutions, the governor had very little authority, and the elected representatives were kept under close scrutiny. Madison’s Virginia Plan introduces a new understanding of federalism and republicanism.

This wholly national republican plan is debated, and amended, over the next two weeks , and the main features are adopted by the delegates in mid June over two alternatives: the wholly federal, or state based, New Jersey Plan, that argues that the Virginia Plan goes too far, and the Hamilton Plan that claims the Virginia Plan does not go far enough. Hamilton , among other things, envisioned a President for life. Act Two portrays the Convention in crisis, in the sense that the delegates were at a stalemate. Far from the wholly national republican Virginia Plan being accepted, as we might very well anticipate when the curtain fell at the end of Act One, the delegates from Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, and Mr. Martin from Maryland , the defenders of the New Jersey Plan, the old style federalism of the Articles , and the old fashioned republicanism of the state constitutions insisted on questioning the validity of the Virginia Plan. They argued that the Convention had exceeded the Congressional mandate because the Articles had in fact been scrapped rather than revised. Thus the Convention had violated the rule of law.

Moreover, the Convention was about to propose a novelty—a large country under one republican form of government—that would never be accepted by the electorate. These delegates knew their Locke and Montesquieu and they relied on their own political experience which was remarkably extensive: republican government could only exist in areas of small extent where the people kept close watch over their representatives. A breakthrough occurs at the end of June when Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut suggests that we are neither wholly national nor wholly federal but a mixture of both. Several delegates echo this theme and the Convention decides to move beyond the exclusively national or federal paradigms. The Gerry Committee is created to explore the ramifications of this suggestion that the people be represented in the House and the states be represented in the Senate. This recommendation—the Connecticut Compromise—is accepted over Madison’s objections in mid-July . Act Three focuses on the debates during August over the Committee of Detail Report, especially concerning the itemization of Congressional powers . With the Connecticut Compromise in place, the delegates turned from the question of structure to the question of national and state powers. Under the Virginia Plan, Congress was empowered to do anything the States were incompetent to do.

By July, that was no longer acceptable to the delegates. A Committee was created to draft a Constitution—the Committee of Detail—that would address the division of powers between the central and state governments and also the separation of powers between Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court. Another issue that emerged in Act Three is the slavery question . What could Congress do and not do to regulate and/or abolish slavery? This is a vital question and deserves special coverage. It is instructive to compare the clause in the Committee of Detail Report of August 6 with the Signed Constitution of September 17 . The former forbids Congress from ever regulating the slave trade and prohibits Congress from discouraging the trade by means of a tax or tariff. By contrast the final Constitution, limits the prohibition on Congress until 1808 and permits Congress to discourage the slave trade. In March, 1807, President Jefferson signed into law an Act of Congress prohibiting the slave trade effective January 1, 1808, and during the 1790s Congress took specific steps to discourage the importation of Africans for the purpose of being sold into slavery.

The Rising Sun Chair Act Four covers the final three weeks of the Convention during the month of September. Despite all the progress that had been made on the structural role of the states and enumerating the powers of Congress, there was much work still to be done on the Presidency. The Brearley Committee came up with the idea of an Electoral College as a sensible compromise to the long and largely fruitless debates on how to elect the President. It had been clear for four months that until the mode of election was settled, no progress could be made on 1) length of term, 2) the issue of re-eligibility, and 3) the powers of the President. The Electoral College was modeled on the Connecticut Compromise: the President would be elected by a combination of people and states. The Committee of Style wrote the final draft of the Constitution. It included a Preamble and an obligation of contracts clause, both written by Gouverneur Morris , and an enumeration of the powers of Congress in Article I, Section 8 . During the last week of the Convention the delegates added a few refinements, raised some serious concerns, and discussed what they agreed to over the four months of deliberations.

Mason expressed the wish that “the plan had been prefaced by a Bill of Rights.” Elbridge Gerry supported Mason’s unsuccessful attempt to attach a Bill of Rights. Randolph joined Mason and Gerry and declared that he too wouldn’t sign the Constitution . And the delegates wondered whether or not the power to create a national university was implied within the meaning of the necessary and proper clause. On the last day of the Convention, September 17 , Benjamin Franklin looked at the chair occupied by Washington and declared the sun enshrined on the chair to be a rising sun. Many delegates over the four months of deliberation often thought that it was a setting sun. 7 Things You May Not Know About the Constitutional Convention - History in the Headlines 7 Things You May Not Know About the Constitutional Convention September 17, 2012 By Christopher Klein Share After several failed attempts at creating a government, a 1787 convention is called to draft a new legal system for the United States. This new Constitution provides for increased federal authority while still protecting the basic rights of its citizens.

Share this: 7 Things You May Not Know About the Constitutional Convention Author 7 Things You May Not Know About the Constitutional Convention URL Google For four months during the summer of 1787, the Constitutional Convention met “in order to form a more perfect union.” With the country’s legal framework finally drafted, the framers of the Constitution signed the document on September 17, 1787, before sending it to the states for ratification. Explore seven surprising facts about the delegates to the Constitutional Convention and their work in Philadelphia. 1. Several framers met with untimely deaths. Was there a curse of the Constitution? Alexander Hamilton was famously killed by Aaron Burr in 1804, but he wasn’t even the first framer of the U.S. Constitution to die in a duel with a political rival. In 1802, North Carolina delegate Richard Spaight was mortally wounded by a dueling pistol fired by sitting congressman John Stanly. Four years later, Virginian George Wythe died of arsenic poisoning, likely at the hand of a debt-riddled grandnephew and heir.

Pennsylvania delegate Gouverneur Morris died in 1816 after a ghastly bit of self-surgery in which he unsuccessfully attempted to dislodge a urinary tract blockage with a piece of whale bone, while New York’s John Lansing mysteriously vanished in December 1829 after leaving his Manhattan hotel room to mail a letter. 2. Rhode Island boycotted the Constitutional Convention. America’s littlest state had a big independence streak. Rhode Island, distrustful of a powerful federal government, was the only one of the 13 original states to refuse to send delegates to the Constitutional Convention. It was a decision that rankled even the normally temperate George Washington, who wrote in July 1787 that “Rhode Island … still perseveres in that impolitic, unjust, and one might add without much impropriety scandalous conduct, which seems to have marked all her public councils of late.” On the condition that a Bill of Rights be included, Rhode Island became the 13th state to ratify the Constitution on May 29, 1790, more than a year after Washington was sworn in as president. 3. Some big names were absent from the Constitutional Convention.

When Thomas Jefferson gushingly called the Constitutional Convention delegates “an assembly of demigods,” he wasn’t being full of himself. Jefferson was not among the founding fathers who gathered in Philadelphia; he was in Paris serving as minister to France. John Adams was also abroad, serving as minister to Great Britain. Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Patrick Henry—who turned down an invitation because he “smelt a rat in Philadelphia, tending toward the monarchy”—also did not participate. 4. Attendance was, shall we say, spotty. When the Constitutional Convention opened on May 14, 1787, only delegates from Pennsylvania and Virginia were present. It wasn’t until May 25 that a quorum of seven states was achieved. Weather—ever the convenient excuse—was blamed for the tardiness, but the convention was plagued throughout with attendance issues. While James Madison boasted that he never left the proceedings for more than “a casual fraction of an hour,” his fellow delegates were not as fastidious. Nineteen of the 74 delegates to the convention never even attended a single session, and of the 55 delegates who did show up in Philadelphia, no more than 30 stayed for the full four months.

New Hampshire’s delegation arrived two months late, by which time two of New York’s three delegates had left in opposition to the proceedings, leaving just Hamilton behind and depriving the state of a quorum to vote. Thus, Washington wrote that the Constitution was signed by “11 states and Colonel Hamilton.” 5. Not all the delegates who attended the convention signed the Constitution. Although 55 delegates participated in the Constitutional Convention, there are only 39 signatures on the Constitution. Fourteen men, having already left Philadelphia, were not present for the signing, and only Delaware delegate John Dickinson had a proxy sign for him. Three delegates—Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts and Edmund Randolph and George Mason of Virginia—were dissatisfied with the final document and refused to ink their signatures. 6. “We the People of the United States” was a late change. The Constitution’s iconic opening line was not included in early drafts of the document. Instead, the preamble started with a much less pithy litany of individual states listed from north to south: “We the people of the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts…” and so on.

Credit for the late alteration goes to a five-person Committee of Style—comprised of Hamilton, Madison, Morris, William Samuel Johnson and Rufus King—and Morris is considered to have been responsible for composing much of the final text, including the revised preamble. 7. The man who handwrote the Constitution was not a delegate. While Morris has been nicknamed the “Penman of the Constitution,” the real hand wielding the quill that scrawled the final copy of the Constitution belonged to Jacob Shallus. The assistant clerk of the Pennsylvania State Assembly was paid $30 and given just two days to write most of the document’s 4,543 words on four sheets of vellum parchment. While his script was exquisite, Shallus wasn’t totally flawless. Between the final article and the delegate signatures on the Constitution’s final page is an “errata” paragraph listing some of the minor errors he had made along with their corrections. Tags

Question: May 25, 1787 saw the sitting of the Constitutional Convention. In what city did the delegates meet?
Answer: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania